


It's a Boy-Boy Thing

by Qoe_Indominus



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec!Magnus, Aline and Helen have 5 seconds of screentime, Angels do stuff, BODYSWAPS I SAY, Bodyswaps has happened, High School AU, M/M, Magnus can't remember the neighbours names, Magnus!Alec, No downworlders or shadowhunters here, People say the wrong things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-05-22 01:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6065884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qoe_Indominus/pseuds/Qoe_Indominus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are two houses next to each other in a street. In one lives a doting big brother - he's a linebacker at the school, and spends his time reading and hiding away from the world. His colourfully dressed neighbour noticed and called him boring when they were children; they haven't spoken since. Fast forward a few years, to when even unknown forces are annoyed with the fact they don't seem to get along, and a trip to the museum results in a change.</p>
<p>Have you seen the It's A Boy Girl Thing film? Then you know what you're in for.  This shall be a multiple chapter story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a Tuesday morning, and all was well. Alexander Gideon Lightwood woke up in a pleasant mood, as the sound of Will Young announced the arrival of 7 o'clock. He pushed himself up out from under the warmth of the duvet with an enthusiastic step he rarely displayed. He couldn't forget that today was the class trip to the museum, and that was what he was looking so forward to. He wouldn't admit to anyone that he had a secret interest in history; what sort of linebacker liked anything other than sport, after all? It was the history class he was going along with, to examine old relics and write on them in the term paper, which was far more interesting than recent history topics that had dominated the term presentations and sessions. It wasn't as interesting as his language classes but it would be another year until he made his way into college to study ancient languages, and find an exchange program suitable for his studying too. 

He spent no longer than five minutes in the bathroom, quickly vacating the room and hopping the few steps into his bedroom. It took him another ten minutes to finish getting ready. His bed hair took five minutes to comb and tame, and then it never took too long to pick which of his favourite black t-shirts he'd wear with his faded black jeans. Practicality over anything else. If it had been colder, he would have also pulled out one of his sweaters that his sister teased him for wearing, but even in May he knew better than to apply too many layers. 

He was just about to leave the room when he heard a call from the room opposite his own, outside. His window looked out onto a tree, but beyond that was the neighbour's bedroom. He and their son never really got along. They'd spoken properly once, and he remembered being insulted by the neighbour. Despite being children at the time, he'd never let it go. Alec shot the window of the other bedroom a disgusted look before he closed the door and went downstairs to make breakfast for his siblings.

\--

Tuesday morning and all was not well. It was, until his adoptive mother knocked gently on the door and woke him from his dream. "I'm awake!" he called out, a little louder than he had meant to, turning his head to peer at his alarm clock. 7:15 in red digital numbers shined at him, and he realised he must have forgotten to turn his alarm on when he got home. A brief memory of the party last night resurfaced, and he smiled to himself. No, all was well in the world of Magnus Bane.

He was thankful that Monday parties were not as crazy as the weekend ones, allowing him to retain a calm and painless head for the day waiting for him. The fifteen minutes had put him behind. With determination to be ready by the time Ragnor arrived and the idea to skip breakfast, he began to dress to impress. By eight, he had successfully dressed in purple attire, complete with tight jeans and his hair spiked as usual, with the decoration of glitter and carefully applied make-up.

"Can't stop!" he called out to his adoptive parents as he made his way down the stairs, the loudness being caused by the boots he'd decided to wear. At the bottom, Circe waited for him with his packed bag in one hand - no doubt containing snacks for the coach trip - and a slice of buttered toast in the other. Magnus mentally blessed her as he vocally thanked her, and was out the door in no time. Ragnor was already waiting for him, the windows of his red car pulled down so the street could hear the music being blasted.

"Ragnor!"

"Magnus! Get in quick!" He shook his hand in a 'come hither' gesture, but the glittery male refused to give in and run to the car, maintaining a brisk walk up to the door. "Come on! The neighbours just pulled away and I want to race them! Don't roll your eyes, it'll be fun. Five bucks says I can't catch them up!" 

"No bets," Magnus replied as he pulled on his seat belt before Ragnor could pull the car away and get into speed. He never cared for the neighbours. The younger ones were okay, but they never wanted to speak to him, and that was fine with him. He remembered the parents were strict and uptight, traits that seemed to have been passed on to their eldest. He'd once said he thought so, or something along those lines, when he was a child. He'd received glares from the blue-eyed boy since.

"Speak of the devil," Magnus mumbled to himself as Ragnor drove the car around the corner. He hadn't meant for it to be vocal, but Ragnor had definitely heard him.

"Can you really call a virgin a devil?" He asked with a chuckle, "Oh! There's a broken fire hydrant. Do you think he knows? It would be a shame if he didn't know about that puddle he's about to walk by. Should we tell him about it?" 

This time, the two of them chuckled. 

"Let's."

\--

Alec was used to walking alone; he disliked the school bus, full of the first year kids who hadn't learned that they didn't rule everywhere, and he'd rather not ride with his siblings and their partners where he felt like the fifth wheel. He was instead thankful that it wasn't raining and that he was able to choose to walk to school. His mind wandered to occupy his time, to make the walk seem shorter. He focused on the upcoming trip, anticipation filling him at the ideas of what he might see, what relics he could write about, what-- BEEP BEEP.

"Huh?" He'd look back later and wonder why he made such a pathetic response to a car honking its horn, and follow it up with a wonder on why he hadn't done anything except stand there as the car pulled up far too quickly beside him, its wheels pulling up the water from the puddle up and over, like a tidal wave. He could have taken a step back, but instead he'd remained rooted as the water landed on him. His hair was soaked, his face went and his clothes drenched. He shivered, watching as the car zoomed down the street. All was suddenly not well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This scene takes us from a quick morning at school and up to the event during the school trip.

"What happened?" A hand landed roughly against the locker next to his own, and Alec found himself stood next to his very angry sister. Of course he had expected news to have gotten around the school that he'd arrived soaking wet on a warm, dry day, but he had hoped he would have had time to change. He kept spare clothes in his locker, and a quick trip to the restroom would allow himself to fully change, but with so little time being cut short by Isabelle's arrival, he'd be lucky if he was able to change his shirt.

"Alec, are you listening to me?"

"Yes, yes! Nothing. I mean, there was a puddle. And a car." He pulled out a matching black shirt from his locker, and looked both ways to ensure it was only the two Lightwoods in the corridor - thank goodness for small miracles that his locker was out of the way of classrooms and at a dead end - before pulling off his wet top and replacing it with such speed, just in case someone did spot the two. 

"Jerks," Isabelle hissed, averting her eyes and distracting herself by keeping watch for passersby, on her brother's behalf. "I told you to get into Simon's car. Who did it?" 

"I..." Alec chewed on the inside of his cheek, debating whether to create a school war or not. He only had an idea who it was by the make of the car, it wasn't as though he memorized licence plates. "I don't know. They drove off too quickly," he said, settling on peace for now. Isabelle grabbed the wet shirt from him before he could throw it into his locker, and held it up so she could examine it.

"The front of you took most of the hit."

"They honked the horn. I turned," he explained, reaching out to snatch the clothing back, but Isabelle was quicker and held it out to the side. 

"You turned, and still didn't see them?"

"Izzy! Don't!" Alec mumbled, though he didn't make another pass for the fabric. "I was distracted by the huge wave coming right at me." This time Isabelle handed him the shirt back, which was then thrown to the bottom of the locker where it wouldn't damage his books, already placed high on the shelf for safety, apart from the unlucky ones that had been present that morning. They'd need replacing. 

"Now I have a coach to get on," he spoke, more to himself, as his brain did the math and decided that he didn't have time to change his jeans. 

"Knock 'em dead," Izzy tried to reassure him, extending her hand to brush her fingers through his damp hair, trying to tidy it for him. "Let's have pizza tonight. No cooking required, and I'll bully Jace into doing the laundry."

"Izzy," The male turned to her, and Isabelle felt herself grinning at the fact that Alec himself was shining a smile her way. "Please, Jace doing chores? Tell you what, I'll give you a tenner if he does." 

\---

Magnus hadn't seen Alec get on the coach; he could remember the kid was in his history class too, but keeping an eye open for the guy he'd humiliated that morning was the very last thing on his mind. Camille was beautiful enough to demand all of his attention on her after all, even while kissing her goodbye and--

"You're not going to war, Bane!" 

"I really really really hate that guy," Camille breathed a giggle against his lips as they pulled away, both turning and glaring at the history professor. A few years later, Magnus would look back and pity the teachers for having to deal with hormonal teenagers, but right now said hormonal teenager could happily do without having them around.

"Me too. I'll only be a day anyway, Babe."

"Yeah, to a museum though. Don't get boring like those curators."

"I should be insulted that you even suggested I could be swayed by their boorish ways," he chuckled, waiting as she finished running a hand through his hair before giving her one final kiss. To add to the drama, he walked backwards to the bus, and waved back at her and jokingly dabbed at his eyes.

"Bane! Really now?" Poor Mr Richards. At least the other kids found it funny.

\---

The coach trip hadn't taken an hour, and by the end of the journey everyone was thankful to finally be off. The only person not happy for the end of the journey was the driver, who peered in dismay down the aisle of the coach. Snack wrappers littered the floor, and he watched quietly as an empty water bottle rolled down to the front of the bus before closing the doors, shutting himself in alone for now. Alec felt sorry for him, and had taken his own rubbish off the coach with him, shoving it into the bin in the museum foyer before jogging up to catch up with the rest of the class. 

"Now, boys and girls. I hope you're excited to look around. I want you to split into groups of two though so you don't get lost alone!" Mr Richards tried to call over the chatter of the teenagers, and tried to ignore the ones who were more interested in artifacts around them. "Stop laughing, please. I'm sure you've all seen enough naked bodies to leave the poor figures alone. And-- alright, Fell, Bane! I'm splitting you two up before you can sharpie that picture!" 

It wasn't even ten minutes into the event, and the professor was already losing patience. And Alec was losing interest. He was already wanting to look around the museum; already he'd seen some rune shapes on a picture that caught his attention, a beautiful piece portraying a human with the black shapes all over his body. He wondered if they were tribal, what they stood for - maybe a sort of ranking method back in the day or portraits, or some significance of power? His mind was already running away with potential outlines for an essay until he was rudely snapped back to reality. 

"Lightwood! Awake, please? You with me?" Alec jumped, looking all around him before realising it was Mr Richards who was talking to him. He lowered his gaze to the floor, trying to block out the sniggers of his classmates. "Lightwood, Mr Bane here will walk around with you. Hopefully some of your more pleasing attitude will rub off on him."

"I'd rather he didn't rub off on me," Magnus scoffed, already crossing the room to stand beside the dark-haired male. "Your jeans are wet, and your hair is a mess. What happened? Got hit by a puddle?"

"Very funny, like I-- You," It took a moment, but Magnus' grin turned all the more smug when he noticed Alec had worked out what had happened this morning.

"Hey, Ragnor and I were being nice. We beeped and let you know about the puddle. That it got in our way was unavoidable. Couldn't do anything about it. Shame really. Now his car has splash marks all up it."

"And I have to spend the day looking frazzled?"

"Wrong place, wrong time," Magnus shrugged, and mentally gave himself a score when the other male did nothing but stalk off. He didn't go far, stopping at a statue of an angel, looking ready for battle. "This is boring, let's go look at the naked lady again?" Magnus suggested, following behind Alec. While Mr Richard's was in sight, he'd at least play along. "Ragnor would. But alas, the evil that controls us has separated us."

"My heart bleeds," Alec snapped, "If you weren't so annoying you wouldn't even be here with me. You just come along, do what you want, looking however you want. I mean, your hair! Sonic, much?"

"My hair? At least I give it some care and attention. Yours looks like a bird settled down, then flew off after deciding it was too boring to lay her eggs in!" Magnus retorted, and Alec flinched at the use of the 'b' word against him. 

"I... I... Jerk!"

"Virgin."

"Y... Warlock!"

"Warlock?"

Alec nodded, "An evil man who ruins the best stories."

Magnus couldn't help it; he laughed. "But powerful. Unlike you. Besides, what story? Your boring story?"

"I'd pick my story over yours any day," Alec hissed, "You're the last person I'd want to be."

"Ditto."

"What?" He blinked his blue eyes in surprise, momentarily forgetting his anger at such a short and unexpected word. 

"Ditto. It means 'same'. I wouldn't want your boring life, ever."

"Ditto!" Anger back, Alec retorted against him.

"Double ditto."

"Double double ditto."

"Ditto to a hundred."

"Ditto to an infinity!"

\---

Helen sighed, tearing herself away from the portait of fairies to where the loud voices in the museum were coming from. Everyone had been confused at the professor's decision to pair the two together. They'd never gotten along; Alec was the sort of person who tried to hide and blend into the shadows, while Magnus' personality was as bright as the clothing he wore. It wasn't even the sort of 'being mean to pull on metaphorical pigtails' way that the golden-eyed male treated the other. They just didn't get along, and now the catastrophic pairing had ruined the peace in the museum.

"It looks like they're giving up," a hand placed itself on her shoulder, offering some comfort to her annoyance. And true to Aline's guess, the two males turned and walked away from each other. 

"Finally," Helen sighed and nodded, her eyes glancing to the angel statue they'd been stood in front of moments ago. She watched as a golden swirl of energy danced around it, and thin lines of it followed each of the two teenagers. She opened her mouth to ask her partner about it, but closed it as the golden energy melted into the air. She settled on the decision of it being a trick of the light, and decided to turn her attention back to the task at hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this could have been longer but if I had carried it on then I worried it may be information overload. 
> 
> Next chapter will deal with the magically anticipated BODYSWAP. 
> 
> I know in the film it's... is it Aztec artifacts? But this is The Mortal Instruments so have some annoyed Angels messing around with humans. I'm looking forward to writing more Izzy - I adore her character so much. And the TV series actress is pretty eye candy.
> 
> OH, and a note on 'tenners'. I'm English so a tenner would be £10. If you offer someone 10 dollars, so you still say a tenner? Do you have ten dollar notes? I'm curious. I should be educated on this but 'tenner' is all lingo and slang.


	3. Chapter 3

Alec had heard Avicii a few times. It was an artist he could listen to if he wasn't in control of the radio at the time. However, as he was waking himself from sleep, his first thought of the day was "Where's Will Young?" Perhaps Izzy had replaced his CD in the player as a sort of prank, though if it were a prank than wouldn't Slipknot be a better choice? That's when he opened his eyes, and sat upright in the bed in shock. His hands grabbed at everything - the purple silk bedsheets, his own face where he even pinched his cheek because this had to be a dream, and then finally they found the alarm and shut down Broken Arrows before it could continue any further. 

His eyes now glanced around the room, so brightly decorated in comparison to his own. And he turned his nose up at the laundry on the floor. Bright, but a little messy. This wasn't his room. He pushed back the bedsheets, and tried not to gasp that the long pants he were wearing matched said bedsheets. A window! He took the few steps over to it and opened it to look out. He knew that tree outside, and just opposite his own window was another window. Another window that was also opening and -- 

He yelped. His own face was looking back at him in horror. "We need to talk ASAP!" The other Alec yelled at him before vanishing back into his - no, HIS. That was Alec's own room over the garden fence. The real Alec stepped back into the unknown, and looked around again. This meant this was Magnus' room. The vanity table covered in bottles and boxes of make up made sense. He hesitated before taking small steps to the floor length mirror, intertwining his fingers as he stepped before it. In the glass, Magnus' own face stared at him in shock, both real and mirror images taking steps back from each other until the backs of their knees hit the bed. Breathe, Alec, breathe. So you're in Magnus' body - how did that even happen? He waved at the mirror, and the mirror waved back. Yes, definitely in someone else's body. And it was Wednesday. He needed to get dressed for school. 

The male was thankful for a few seconds that he was in a body of his own gender but then he opened the closet. He may as well have been in a girl's body; there was no black in among the piles of clothes. Oh wait. He reached out, and pulled out a black shirt. The words "Blink if you want me" stared back at him. Well, it was better than nothing. 

\--

"We need to talk ASAP!" Magnus told his own body, staring at him from the other window. As he closed the window, he looked down at the pyjama set he was wearing, and wasn't surprised by the black of it all. He needed to change, and he crossed his fingers. Well, Alec's. Boring, and nail bitten that they were. He opened the closet of Alec's room and found clothes matching the colour he was already wearing. With a grumble, he managed to find a navy blue shirt among them, the only piece of colour Alec seemed to own. Magnus would look back one day and think that even Alec's underwear was black was funny. For now, he turned his attention to the mirror with the other's comb. He stared at it, and ran the comb through the black hair. And counted. Six strokes and his hair was done. Now what could he do? He shrugged and left the room to explore. He'd only be in this body of one day after all, with any luck. 

"What's for breakfast?" A voice asked him as soon as he stepped out of the bedroom. He looked around, eyes falling on - what was her name? Annabelle? Isabelle? 

"E-erm... whatever's down there?" He replied, dropping the name part. He'd find out later if he really needed her name. For now, he had to act like Alec. And Alec would say that wouldn't he? Oh no, I-belle's face suggested otherwise.

"Are you okay?" She asked, leaving her room in the smallest nightgown Magnus suspected any indecent shop would sell. He stood still, letting her place her palm against his forehead. "I did worry that you might have caught something from being soaked yesterday. You seem okay, but if you don't feel like making breakfast today, let me take care of it."

Don't worry, Belle, you'll have breakfast tomorrow, when Alec is back. "Okay, thanks."

"I'll be right back! Let me get dressed quick!"

Later, Magnus would learn why it was Alec, and not Isabelle - he remembered now - that made breakfast. After that lesson, he would learn that your friends would mistake the awkward kid next door for you if you each have the wrong bodies. 

"Come on, Alec. Simon will let you ride shotgun today!"

"I am not riding in Stephen's Car, Isabelle!"

\--

Alec was already waiting for Magnus, thoughtfully choosing a tree at the back of the car park for their talk. Magnus had been forced to ride in Steve's car, but he had gotten away with saying nothing. All of him wanted to scream at Jace and Clary's lovey dovey acts, and Isabelle kept trying to talk to Magnus, who just refused to say anything. Even the silent treatment managed to upset her, so no one minded when he walked to where his own body was waiting. 

"My hair-" he started, surprised. It was actually spiked up. But there was no glitter.

"Your mother helped me," His own body replied while staring at a blade of grass the whole time. Magnus leaned down to examine his face. 

"You didn't do your make up." 

"I don't know how," Alec sighed, finally looking up. Magnus looked down and almost gasped that Alec had tried to dress his own body up in the boring way he did.

"I do hope you get a lot of blinks with that shirt."

"Excuse me?" Alec stammered, "SHould I have chosen something else?"

"Obviously," Magnus rolled his - Alec's - eyes and folded his arms over his chest. "If we're lucky, this will last a day. For now, we need to blend in. Try and act like me, and I'll act like you."

"Right..."

"That means, could you please sound confident? You're the magnificent Magnus Bane. People actually like you," Alec whimpered with Magnus' voice, clearly taken aback that his own body was insulting him.

"W-well, don't be... I don't know..."

"And don't mess with my girl. You may have my body, but it's my relationship. So I'll let you kiss her-"

"K-k-kiss?!" Magnus hoped Alec wouldn't faint by the time they were finished.

"Yes, kiss. And get her to do the make up too. And try to remember how she does it. If this isn't a one day thing then we need to be prepared. It better be a one day thing. I have a fashion event on Friday. And you have your game on Friday."

"You wouldn't have to play the game," Alec replied quietly, playing with the bottom of the shirt. Magnus blinked at him, but only in confusion and not want.

"Don't be stupid. You want to go to college right?"

"Yeah but, I don't want to study sports. I want to st-" whatever Alec said was drowned out by the school bell, and he used this moment to slip away to class. 

\--

"Je ne comprends pas."

Was Magnus not supposed to say that? The notice on the board said to say that if you didn't understand the language at any point but the teacher was staring at Magnus as though he'd performed a magic trick. Oh. Did Alec never say that?

\--

"Hold still!"

"I'm sorry!" Alec moved again just before Camille could apply the eyeliner. "I feel tired, and doesn't this stuff smudge if you rub your eyes? I rub my eyes when I'm tired."

"Magnus, don't be daft. YOu've never rubbed your eyes. Now hold still. Hold still, and I'll give you a kiss. And maybe later tonight I can-"

"If I hold still, will you not?" The words fell from Magnus-Alec's mouth before he could stop them. Next, a hand mark covered his cheek.

\--

"Can I sit with you?" Magnus thought he had Alec's nervous personality down by now, but the football team still gave him anxious glances.

"Sure but what about Jace?"

"What about him?" He took the seat next the most looking pleasant people on the team. He didn't want to sit next to the guy he'd just seen come in sweaty from running practice. 

"You always hang with Jace instead. Like you love him," the captain teased, using a teasing tone. 

"He is Al--my brother," Magnus reminded them, and quietly began to eat his lunch.

\--

"How have you not heard the new tracks that dropped this week? I still can't even. Okay, next one, this is-"

"Can we listen to something by Darren Hayes next?"

Actually, Alec just wanted some peace and quiet. Magnus surrounded himself with people, and he was beginning to miss the solitary life he led. It was easier that way. Alec found he'd managed to annoy everyone who'd came over to speak with him. Ragnor didn't seem easy to shake off though, and kept changing the topic.

"Dude, do you know how many blinks you've gotten with that shirt?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Mother's Day! (UK)
> 
> I did want to upload yesterday, but my car had to be repaired and my grandparents made a surprise visit.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Constructive feedback is welcome.
> 
> And I do apologise if people keep getting confused by who's who now. I do still talk about Magnus as though he is Magnus, and Alec as if he is still Alec. Writing this chapter even confused myself that I needed a point, and that is the point.


	4. Chapter 4

Out of respect, and hope, Alec hadn't changed the music Magnus used for his alarm system. He had considered it, but had opted to go for a desperate plea to any entity out there that he would wake up in his own bed. He promised, too, that if he did, he would make sure he cooked the best breakfast for his siblings. It may have been a day, but he was already missing them; he wanted to hear Izzy fuss over him with regards to his non-existent love life, to even let Jace talk to him about how amazing Clary was. He slid into the warmth of the bedsheets, finding nothing to grip on among the silk sheets that he was convinced should never be on a guy's bed, and closed his eyes tightly shut while chanting his desire to be back in his own body. 

Alexander awoke before the alarm went off and his mind instantly panicked. He'd learnt he had an ability to wake himself up if something was amiss while he was asleep, and this fear was already leading him on, his body already bolting upright to sit alert in bed and ready to attack if need be.

"No one told me I looked so fierce when I was angry!"

"Magnus!" Alec hissed back at a whispered chuckle, and looked to the right for his alarm clock. Instead of his own, his shoulders fell as he realised this was still his neighbour's room. Ah yes, and Magnus had already spoken and indicated they were still in each other's bodies. "It's half six - couldn't you wait half an hour? Or until we were at school?" He grumbled, pushing the duvet aside so he could swing his legs over one side of the bed. He looked up to where Magnus - in Alec's body - had been stood, frowning as he looked to the other side of the room. 

"Yes, but if I'm to work on you, I need plenty of time." 

"Time for what? What are you working on me for? I'm not a doll? How did you even get in?" Alec asked, standing up in time to dodge a piece of sky blue fabric being thrown at him. He picked it up, and discovered it to be a shirt. 

"You've more questions than an exam paper," Magnus sighed, with a hint of annoyance, "That window's broken. It's second floor so Father never bothered to fix it but I think I just proved I may need it fixing. And-" he drew out the final word as he threw trousers and pants over at Alec, "I need to make sure you're presentable in my body today. I noticed the hand mark on my face yesterday by the way. Who did that?"

Too weary to argue just now, Alec removed the panda pyjamas he'd found in the closet and began to dress himself on Magnus' recommendation, making a mental note to remember to tell the other male what to wear that day if they were playing 'dress up dolls'. "Camille. She was putting make up on, and I... said something, and she hit me."

"What did you say?" Was that really how angry Alec sounded when he was being the scolding older brother in hios own body? No wonder Izzy didn't find him terryfying, even Alec wasn't trembling as his own body used that tone on him. 

"She was going to kiss me, and I asked her not to. Because, I - erm. I didn't think you'd want me to?" Alec yelped as Magnus grabbed at the front of his shirt before he could finish talking, and Alec feared he was going to be struck again. Magnus didn't hit him though, and released him after a moment.

"I won't hit myself. But when we're back to our own bodies, I won't hold back. And-" his frown was replaced by a grin, "-If Camille dumps you, or me, because of this then I'll get you your first boyfriend and stuff. Deal?" 

"I'd, wait, please!" Alec stammered, already watching the other's back as the taller body began to pick up various objects from the dresser. "She wouldn't be that shallow, would she? I... I can sort this out!"

"You better," Magnus huffed, sitting on the bed with his concoctions next to him. "Now sit. I've got to make sure you look so good that no one will notice my body is acting pathetic thanks to the boring other inside it."

"Boring?!" Alec exclaimed, yelping again as Magnus tugged him onto the bed by his hand.

"And be quiet. You want to wake my parents? Close your eyes," Magnus ordered. Alec made sure to give one more huff of annoyance before doing as Magnus asked. He almost pulled away when he felt the brushes and tools on his cheeks and eyelids, his mind reminding him that everything was okay, that nothing was trying to attack him. To be leaving his trust in a near stranger didn't sit well with him though, and he was thankful when he was told to open his eyes again. 

"Are we done?" He asked quietly. He didn't receive a response, but then a verbal one wasn't needed as Magnus held out a pencil, the nib aimed at his eyes.

"You need to hold still. Eyeliner can be tricky if you're not steady." Alexander hated the eyeliner most of all. His eyes threatened to water as he forced them to remain open, and he couldn't keep his left one from blinking. "Stay still," Magnus eventually growled, and shuffled nearer to Alec, who would have pushed himself back if his own body didn't suddenley sit in his lap and pin him down. 

"G-get off!" He yelped, forgetting all about being quiet, and used his elbows for support as he leaned back. Magnus followed forward, forcing Alec down until his back hit the mattress. 

"Well, Princess, you're trapped there now," His own face grinned at him, while the free hand held the area around his eye. "Count to ten, and I'll be done. Please stop acting as though I am going to stab you with this." 

\---

Alexander had counted to nine when he felt the weight move off his body. Magnus was now standing up, putting the make up back where it had once been. The Lightwood should have been happy his ordeal was over, that his appearance - besides the hair - was now magnificent. Even Magnus was muttering about how no one could dump such a specimen like him. By him he meant Alec, in his body. That sounded right. But then it wouldn't even be the real Magnus, and Alec didn't have a way with words. He was blunt, and to the point. 

"What should I say? To Camille?" He asked, looking up to his neighbour. 

Magnus shrugged and handed him the base of his hair straightners. "They're warm enough - you've seen your sister use them, right? As for Camille, right. Let's roleplay! 'Magnus, I'm breaking up with you!'" he declared, changing his tone to a feminine one for Camille. And Alec was alarmed his voice could go that high. 

"D-don't, pl-"

"No! Don't beg," Magnus ran a hand over his face and groaned, "Be confident! Pretend you're a king."

"So, I should say 'You're missing out'?" 

"Yeah, something like that," Magnus nodded, searching back through the closet while Alec began to arrange his hair, puffing it up as Magnus' mother had done yesterday. "Throw things in like 'We could have been something'! Just don't sound like you're upset."

"Aren't you though?" Alexander watched as the other began to make his way back to the window. He raised an eyebrow at the fabric in his hands, and Magnus gleefully opened it to reveal a shirt that read 'Boy Meets Boy'. "Don't wear that!" 

"Think of it as an incentive, Darling," Magnus told him, opening the window and sat on the sill, preparing to reach for the tree. "I am upset Camille will be dumping me, especially as it's not my fault. I'll win her back when I'm in my own body. But what's the point in showing how I really feel? Will it change anything if I cry?" Magnus didn't sit around and wait for an answer, and was already making his way over the tree without a second glance. If he had looked, he would have seen a sad mix of emotions on his own face that would never have been there before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a nightmare to edit all the time. I wanted to add too much at one point so I cut the original into two parts. This is part 1 clearly, and it began to work better after that, though compared to the other chapters the pacing still feels too slow for me. But it's been a chance for my Magnus and Alec to chat a bit. And bigger the bigger heart to heart chat will be in part 2 as well.
> 
> I do apologise for the delay in getting this out. I hope the wait's been worth it for everyone.

**Author's Note:**

> Horray! You've finished the chapter!
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read this silly, silly story of mine. I do appreciate it, and I would love feedback, of both the nice sort, and constructive criticism.
> 
> :D


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